In recent years, more and more emphasis has been placed on data security. To protect information, most businesses have taken steps to protect individual server platforms, and some have taken steps to extend security features to individual workstations. Typically, such steps include data encryption, digital certificates, login user names and passwords, physical access keys, and the like.
Improvements to data security have lead to the introduction of hardened security features into storage systems, such as root keys for unlocking encryption/decryption keys, which may be stored on the storage device, for example. Unfortunately, most of the hardened security measures can be bypassed simply by gaining physical access to the storage device. For example, a disc drive assembly may be carefully disassembled and the rotatable discs can be removed and read using specialized equipment. Moreover, if the drive electronics are physically accessible, an individual could probe the electronics and gain access to protected data stored on the drive by stealing the access information (such as the encryption/decryption keys) from the electronics. For example, if the encryption electronics are physically accessible, there is a possibility that the stored information could be viewed in an unencrypted state by using specialized instrumentation to probe the electronics.
Conventionally, some systems have been configured to erase encryption/decryption keys stored, for example, in electrically erasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM). However, specialized eavesdropping equipment makes it possible to uncover data from storage media even after the data has been erased or overwritten. Similarly, data bits erased from programmable chips may be recoverable using specialized equipment.
There is an ongoing need for physical and logical disc security measures for protecting data from unauthorized access. Embodiments of the present invention provide solutions to these and other problems, and offer other advantages over the prior art.